THE Phone Call
by flipmeforward
Summary: ...or "The one in which Sebastian is so stupidly in love that he does things he never thought he would do"


It's late afternoon before Sebastian realizes that it's his mother's birthday. He reaches for his bluetooth headset and mounts it, listens to the dial tones while he busies himself with the electric kettle and searches in the cupboard for the blueberry tea that _should_still be there.

"Smythe residence?"

"Hi. It's me. Happy birthday."

He doesn't have to say anything else, because once she's said her thanks, she's talking a mile a minute. It's been awhile since they talked, so she has a lot to say, and Sebastian really doesn't have to do much but to listen and say 'mm' and 'oh yeah?' in the right places.

When the kettle clicks he reaches for the last clean mug and while the tea is brewing he walks around the apartment to collect all the dirty dishes they've managed to pile up over the weekend. He can't do them while he's on the phone, so he just piles it all up on the counter and continues to listen to his mother's story about how happy his three year-old cousin got over her Hello Kitty birthday cake, while sipping his tea.

He misses them, a little. He's a hundred miles away from his family, and he misses them, but he's not homesick. He looks out through the window and sees dimly lit streets and new yorkers running through the rain, and he can't help but to long for the open fields that surround his family home in Westerwille. He knows he has to be here, though, that he feels better here than he ever has there, so it's not even an option. This is home now, because _home is where the heart is_, and Kurt is here.

She's telling him about yesterday, when his little sister brought home her boyfriend for the first time, and he wants to tell her, but he can't. He smiles and laughs when she relays his fathers comments and attempts at intimidation, while he sorts through the dirty laundry that is strewn across their bedroom and half the bathroom floor. She asks about school and he tells her about the group assignment and test in national economics, turns Kurt's shirts inside out and drops them in the right color pile.

He wants to tell her about Kurt, but he can't. She doesn't _know_. Sebastian has never brought home a boyfriend for his dad to intimidate, he has never brought home anyone, period. And while he never hides his sexuality, he still hasn't _told_ his parents. No matter how witty and sarcastic and _cold_ he is to anyone and everybody, he still wants, he still _needs_ his parents' approval. He wants them to love him. Even if he's gay.

It hasn't really bothered him before, because it's not like he talks about one night stands with his parents, but now it's so much more than that.

When the laundry is sorted, she has moved on to talking about her plans for pumpkin carvings and what she's planning to grow in the greenhouse this winter. Sebastian settles in front of the DVD case in the living room and starts to rearrange their movies according to color, because Kurt's arrangement according to the hotness factor of the main actor is weird and hard on the eyes. He hums while she debates red versus yellow tomatoes, and wonders if purple should fade into blue or red.

"I miss you", he blurts out between _Friends with benefits_ and _Transformers_. He's interrupting her, and she stops talking. He has probably never said that to her ever before, and she has never said it back, because they just don't.

"I miss you, too," she says, and Sebastian hears the sincerity in her voice and thinks that maybe this is the only present she needs from him this year. When he doesn't say anything for awhile she stays silent too, before continuing to talk about his grandfather's computer problems.

The front door opens, and Sebastian tenses involuntarily. He usually tries to avoid talking to one of them when the other is present. He turns around, and Kurt smiles tiredly at him, dragging a hand through his wet hair. He walks over to Sebastian and kisses him on the forehead before arching a questioning eyebrow.

"Mom", Sebastian mouths, and Kurt's eyebrows fly up out of sight under his hair, but he stands up and nods. He throws his cardigan on the couch and rolls up his shirt sleeves, walks out into the kitchen, and Sebastian can hear him filling up the sink with hot water. He leans back against the wall next to the bookcase and revels in the warm feeling that spreads in his stomach.

He is so fucking in love with Kurt. He never thought in a million years that he would fall in love, much less settle down, but here he is. He's in love with Kurt Hummel and he wants to live inside this feeling forever. This is how it's supposed to be, this is how it's supposed to _feel_, and he never would have gotten to this point if he had stayed in Westerwille, or Ohio, because he was a jerk then and he never would've gotten Kurt if he'd stayed the same.

"Mom", he says, and he's interrupting her again, but he realizes that he hasn't got a clue what she's been talking about for the last couple of minutes. "I'm gay."

She goes silent, and there's a crash from the kitchen, and Sebastian hopes that it wasn't the blue mug with the Eiffel tower on it because that's his favorite. Kurt comes out to hover in the doorway, watches him while he dries his hand on a towel. Sebastian bites his thumbnail and meets his gaze, and he knows that no matter what his mother says right now, Kurt will still love him.

"Honey," she says eventually. "I know."

Sebastian says nothing. Kurt is still hovering in the doorway, unsure if he's supposed to give comfort or space.

"Have you met someone?" she asks when she realizes that he's not going to say anything, and he hears the curiosity and warmth in her voice and he's so relieved that he doesn't know if he wants to throw up or laugh or cry or yell or do everything at once. He's glad he's already sitting down, because every tension to ever fill his body leaves in a flash. He breaks his gaze away from Kurt's and leans his head back on the wall and smiles.

"Yeah," he says eventually. "Kurt".

Kurt has moved across the floor and settles himself beside Sebastian, leaning his head against his shoulder. "We… we're going to Lima for Thanksgiving, we could— maybe we could come by?" He hasn't even asked Kurt, but he has a sudden need to just show him everything that he loves about that place. When Kurt squeezes his thigh he knows it's okay with him too. He's been through this, once.

"Definitely," she replies, a hundred miles away, and the certainty in her voice is comforting.

However, he can't even pretend to be interested about whatever she has to say now.

"Look, I, uhm, I have to go. I have to do the dishes."

"Yeah, sure," she replies, obviously humoring him. "I need to hang up anyway, your dad cooked today."

"How nice of him."

A few beats of silence.

"Say hello to Kurt for me, okay? And call again for Thanksgiving."

"Yeah, I will."

They hang up, and Sebastian turns to look at Kurt.

"That happened," he says. Kurt just smiles and leans in to kiss him.

"It did," he confirms when they break away, his eyes sparkling and lips shining. He tangles his hand in Sebastian's hair and kisses him again. "So, now that you've told her what she has known for years - wanna have insanely hot gay sex with your insanely gay boyfriend?"


End file.
